San Francisco -- Tagged, the San Francisco-based developer of a social discovery site with more than 10 million monthly active users, said it has relaunched the company under the name if(we). "Whereas our previous direction was to grow to a billion-dollar IPO, our new direction is to take multiple shots at creating the next billion-user social product," wrote co-founder and CEO Greg Tseng. "We have set up if(we) as a company incubating multiple social products. We will continue to grow our existing products, Tagged and hi5, as well as build new social products on mobile and other key platforms for the next decade." The company also has acquired stealth messaging startup Tinode, and installed two of its leaders, Dash Gopinath and Gene Sokolov, as chief product officer and senior vice president of engineering, respectively. Tseng co-founded Tagged in 2004 with Johann Schleier-Smith out of incubator Jumpstart Technologies, which developed 10 different consumer web properties. Though the company has been profitable for the past eight years, Tseng said it pulled in only $57 million in revenue last year, putting it well short of the range needed for an IPO. "Frankly, we weren't on track, primarily because users and usage were shifting to mobile, which has lower monetization than desktop," Tseng wrote. http://www.ifwe.co/ http://www.ifwe.co/blog/posts/10-year-anniversary/ _____________________________________________

o Silicon Valley Venture Capital Investments Decline in Third Quarter

New York -- Venture capitalists sank $4.39 billion into Silicon Valley companies during the third quarter, down substantially from a quarter ago, but up nearly 20% from the same period in 2013, according to the latest MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The number of deals also fell to 333 from 370 last quarter. Nationally, venture capitalists invested $9.9 billion in 1,023 deals during the quarter -- down 27% and 9%, respectively, from the prior quarter. Still, analysts say the picture is far from gloomy. "Despite the drop in VC dollars in Q3, we continue to see a healthy level of investing," said Mark McCaffrey, global software leader and technology partner at PwC. "In fact, venture capitalists have already invested more in the first three quarters of the year than they did in all of 2013, and investments are on pace to surpass $40 billion in 2014." http://www.nvca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=102 _____________________________________________

o Brisbane-Based Dance Biopharm Cancels Plans for $75 Million IPO

Brisbane, Calif. -- Dance Biopharm, a developer of treatments for diabetes, said it has withdrawn its plans for its $75 million initial public offering, after originally filing for an IPO in April. In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company didn't offer a specific reason for the change of plans, though several companies recently have delayed or cancelled their IPO plans in the midst of a market selloff. "The company is requesting withdrawal of the registration statement because it does not plan to file an updating amendment and pursue a public offering at this time," wrote CEO John Patton. "The company believes that such withdrawal is consistent with the public interest and the protection of investors as contemplated by paragraph (a) of Rule 477."http://dancebiopharm.com/ http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1596126/000119312514372907/d620119drw.htm _____________________________________________

o New Enterprise Associates Tops U.S. VC Firms in Q3 Deal Activity

New York -- New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led all venture capital firms in U.S. deals during the third quarter, according to new research from CB Insights. NEA topped Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz and Atlas Venture on the list. All told, California accounted for 46% of all U.S. venture capital deals, topping New York (14%), Massachusetts (7%) and Texas (4%). Total funding dropped 30% and deal levels 10%, compared to the previous quarter. And just 18 VC-backed U.S. companies went public in Q3, compared with 35 in Q1 and 24 in Q2. The complete report is available at the link below. https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/venture-capital-data-q3-2014/ _____________________________________________

o Study: 20% of U.S. Households to Buy Smart Home Device in Next Year

Arlington, Va. -- Twenty percent of U.S. households with broadband plan to buy at least one home smart home device within the next year, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and Parks Associates. Smart devices, in the form of products such as thermostats, door locks, smoke detectors and light switches -- have processing intelligence and are connected to the Internet through a home network. Nearly half of those who currently own a smart home device are under the age of 35. "It makes sense that early adopters of smart home devices tend to be younger, have a high-tech affinity and are four-times as likely to buy new technology as soon as it is available," said Steve Koenig, the CEA's director of industry analysis. "More than half of smart home device owners say they want to use technology as a way to create more time with their family." http://www.ce.org/News/News-Releases/Press-Releases/2014/CEA-and-Parks-Associates-Find-Twenty-Percent-of-U.aspx _____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Palo Alto, Calif.) Stanford University said it plans to offer a series of online workshops designed for teams. The interactive online program, called Stanford Innovation at Work, draws upon engineering and design methods developed at Stanford. The program's initial webinar is set for Nov. 3. http://innovationatwork.stanford.edu/

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